Cleveland claims House 14 seat

George Cleveland will return to Raleigh to represent the 14th House Congressional District in the General Assembly.

Katie Hansen - Kathryn.Hansen@JDNews.com

George Cleveland will return to Raleigh to represent the 14th House Congressional District in the General Assembly.

Cleveland, who has been the 14th House representative since 2004, beat his opponent Bobby Mills 3,038 votes to 2,456, or 55.30 percent to 44.70 percent, in the Republican Primary, according to the unofficial vote count from the North Carolina State Board of Elections website.

“I’ll continue to serve the constituency with honesty, principals, integrity and fairness,” Cleveland said, adding he plans on continuing to “represent constituents to the best of my ability.”

He said he will also continue to work on economic issues within the state, including the budget, taxes, and ways to make the state more business-friendly.

Cleveland’s election comes after a contentious campaign where both he and Mills accused each other of supporting liberal causes.

“My campaign overall was honest and above board and I think it went fine,” Cleveland said. “It’s not my place to comment on the other individual’s campaign.”

Mills said Tuesday night he was thankful for all the support he’d gotten from Onslow County.

“We just appreciate the experience that this has given us,” Mill said Tuesday night.“At the end of the day we lay our heads down, we do what we can and we should be proud,” Mills said.

Though this was the Republican primary, no Democrats threw their hat into the ring for the election.